Back in the grind…

So today I headed back into the grind of regular life. It was actually kind of nice to come back and be a part of school again. Aside from a little virus blip on Scott’s computer it was actually a pretty nice day too. The kids were relatively sane… but then again we were also missing three so that could have been another compounding factor as to why today seemed so calm. Today what I tried to be more mindful of was something that came out of my last observation and that is to be more transparent in my thinking. Deciding I would be more mindful of it, led me to try something new…And the crazy thing is, I think it might actually have worked. During independent reading time four boys self selected to be sitting on the couch; seeing that I said, “ I’m going to share my thoughts with you about your seating arrangement. It doesn’t seem to be the best idea and I would maybe try to come up with another one.” Then I resumed working while (obviously) still watching them. Low and behold, IT WORKED. One of the boys left the couch and sat on the floor… So feeling good, I tried it with a group of girls who were sitting in a line against the wall all near each other. “Girls, I’m going to tell you that I don’t think that is our best idea for independent reading. I would maybe think of a different one” Slightly different wording but same idea… ANDDDDD….. it didn’t quite work as well. They all stayed sitting next to each other but aside from a few giggles seemed to actually be reading. The kids are now over in Emily’s room watching a movie so I doubt I will get another chance to try this new way of teaching today but I will continue to try to think about it and implement it in the coming days….

The worst part of growing up...

Might actually be growing up. As evident by my last couple of posts this week off has lead me to be very introspective and reflective on my own life.... I'm a BP convert can you tell? The thing I'm struggling with right now is the fact that no one ever tells you how hard growing up actually is. No one every says "oh making grown up decisions is so easy" or "being a grown up is so natural".... mainly because it would be straight up lying. Being a grown up is hard, with bills and rent and work, I can't help but wonder does it ever get easier? We head back to school tomorrow and I'm actually feeling nervous. It feels like so long ago that we were at school and in the working rhythm. Somehow in the last week and 3 days I've lost my rhythm too. I can't help but feel like I've forgotten how to be the grown up I was. However tiny that grown up-ness was, it seems to have diminished. I'm wondering if I start clapping like Peter Pan if my Tinkerbell light will start to glow again. My lunch is made for tomorrow but my lunchbox is at my parents house: fail 1. My coffee pot is on and the timer is set for tomorrow morning but my coffee mug is at my parents house: fail two. Homework isn't graded for the kids: fail three.... Needless to say I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to work. Should be an interesting week I suppose.... Check in tomorrow to see how I survive.....But on the other hand, my paper is coming along swimmingly and I'm feeling pretty ok with where I am considering it's due on thursday... Growing up is an everyday experience I suppose and I'm surviving....

Expectations

With this nice break that I've been enjoying this week, I've been thinking a lot about expectations. They play a part in all aspects of our lives no matter what. The only difference is now I'm realizing how important it is to set the expectations at the very beginning. With our students it is important to set the expectations as early as you can so that they know how they should be responding. From the first day of class to every different lesson our kids should be aware of the expectations. I know that when I am actually in charge of my own classroom it will be so difficult to actually implement it but I'm learning more and more from the awesome people of the stanley TPP that expectations are what it is allllllllll about...


ps. yay fall break

Day before the storm...

So today is the last day before fall break and it honestly felt that way for sure. The kids were all so in their own little worlds and anxious. It definitely didn’t help that it was pajama day for spirit week either… It was just a transitional day and the kids could feel it. We started the day off heading down to our kindergarten buddies room to make “thank you” cards for all of the people who help us out in the school. It was honestly like a craft-glitter bomb went off in that room at about 8:20am. The kindergarteners didn’t really understand what they were doing and the 5th graders were learning about classroom management. When we started actually giving the cards to the people they were made for, it was really sweet. The kids were so proud of their work and loved the positive attention they received. From there we transitioned into expedition in the fainted attempt to finish our letters. It honestly was SO painful. Having not really drilled into our kids the importance of the writing process they really struggled with being forced into using it. So basically I learned (thanks in part to seminar yesterday too) it is essential to start the school year emphasizing the revision/editing stage so that when the expectation is to use the conventions of writing in the correct way the kids know what to do. It was so hard having to go over the importance of using periods in the correct way or capitalizing the first word in a sentence. Or Scott’s biggest pet peeve of indenting at the beginning of the letter. And now, reflecting on the whole day, I guess it was kind of unfair of us to be so annoyed (granted the kids also were so unmotivated and unwilling to work hard) with them since they didn’t know the expectations. Last lesson of the first quarter is to set expectations early so that everyone is on the same page. Just seems easiest. YAY FALL BREAKKKKKKKK

Check back in a week when I resume real life… until then, sleeping in, reading and catching up on all my favorite TVs shows….oh and writing a few papers will be stuck in there I suppose ☺

Seminar

So we're here in seminar and we're supposed to be conferring with ourselves about the writing we did earlier. Our writing was based off of a short story "Shaving". The idea is to write about an act you have done your whole life. But really, how on earth am I old enough to decide that there is one thing that I've done my whole life... seriously. I'm 23 years old; how is that old enough to have a life pattern? Well it's not... Except that one thing... Singing. It's the thing I do no matter how I'm feeling, no matter what is going on, no matter how lost I feel it brings me back. Which is exactly where I am, I'm about to jump off the deep again by heading off to Philly which scares the living bejesus out of me... and with the loss of Muzz, I'm worried about Mema, and my own future. Alzheimer's is a real future for my family and I'm beginning to realize that even with my 23 years, that research is on my side as long as I can get going quickly. So when the feelings are this I come back to one song. One song that just makes everything go away, the one song that makes my emotions still for just 30 seconds. Damn the Dixie Chicks for breaking up because this song is the shit and I hate not having more to grow off of. It just fills me up with happiness and brings me back to ground zero. Back to home base, back to neutral. Writing about singing just made me need to go outside and let it out. Being stuck in this room is like being a bull before a rodeo. All I need to do is run out that door and let it out, the bubbling song that I literally don't feel control over.

I was I was smarter,
I wish I was stronger
I wish I loved Jesus,
The way my wife does.
I wish it had been easier,
instead of any longer.
I wish I could have stood where you would have been proud
That won't happen now,
That won't happen now.
There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard,
Disappearing everyday without so much as a word
Somehow.
Think I broke the wings off that little song bird,
Take her for a ride to the top of the world
right now.
Top of the world.

I don't have to answer,
Any of these questions.
Don't have no God to,
Teach me no lessons.
I come home in the evening,
Sit in my chair
One night they called me for supper
But I never got up
I stayed right there,
in my chair.
There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard,
Disappearing everyday without so much as a word
Somehow.
Think I broke the wings off that little song bird,
Take her for a ride to the top of the world
right now.


I wished I'd known you.
Wished I'd shown you.
All of the things I, was on the inside.
I pretend to be sleeping,
When you come in in the morning
To whisper good bye,
go to work in the rain
I don't know why,
Don't know why.
There's a whole lot of singing that's never gonna be heard,
Disappearing everyday without so much as a word
Somehow.
Think I broke the wings off that little song bird,
Take her for a ride to the top of the world
right now.
Top of the world.

To the top of the world,

I heart our expedition!

So today I really just got into our expedition lesson.... Despite the mild to annoying disruptions from the unfocused kids, most of the class was able to completely jump into the expedition writing and creating. In terms of Bloom's taxonomy my kids would have been at the top since they were using their background knowledge to create a story/ character and write a letter to someone. That sounds super disorganized but basically they created a character who would have lived during the pre-revolutionary time period and would have been involved in one of the major political events (i.e. Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre etc etc). It was awesome to see them coming up with names and back stories and really looking at the political event. Granted we are still struggling with the concept of if you are a member of parliament you are NEITHER a patriot nor a loyalist you are simply a British parliament member who does what Parliament does. A patriot or a loyalist had to be a COLONIST above anything else. Also, if you are a group of people living in the colonies are you a colonist? or a group of colonists? tricky tricky tricky....Adding to that, what does the word whom mean and how I can interpret the question "to whom is your character writing the letter?"..... But despite all of these little things I have to say this was one of the best lessons I got to teach. I created the model and worked through the writing process with my kids (and will continue to...) and it was SO much fun. Mostly because this is my (grape) jam. I LOVE creating things like this, getting to delve straight into historical time periods and forget the here and now... I mean, hello, HOW many books/movies do I own about the Elizabethan time period? yeah I thought so...Stay tuned as my draft continues and I'll be sure to pull some awesome quotes from the kids.... So the quiz is... can you figure out my character with just the beginning of the letter??


My dearest sons,
I can only hope that you were not a part of that ridiculous attack on trade ships. Learning of this wretched attack not only worried your poor mother but also made me regret allowing you to move to such a volatile place. I need you to understand the danger you are in. Return home. These reactions to our thoughtful laws are simply irresponsible and uncalled for. Do you not understand that the government is acting with the best interest of the colonists?

Back in the swing of things....

So this morning rolled around indicating that the field trip was really over. That thing we had been planning and looking forward to was over. I must say I was a little sad just because it had been our thing for so long. But this week I have another goal to reach... The weekend and fall break! All of those people who complain about how much time teachers get off should spend some time in a classroom because then they will understand exactly why. We fell comfortably back into our schedule and routine with little to no bumps. Really the only bump of the day was being told that I couldn't watch my child for my child study in music. But again, this is life and so I will just have to react and write my paper in a different way. OH WELL.

I've been thinking lately about teachers and their philosophies and ideologies. Can a teacher ever have a fixed one of those? Is that being a good teacher or is that closer to being Cameron Diaz in "Bad Teacher?" Shouldn't we always be changing with education to be the best that we can be? Isn't it our responsibility as educators and leaders for our children to be as up to date on life and the world? Just a thought I had.....